Conspiracy Charges

According to California criminal law, conspiracy is an agreement between two or more persons to commit a crime. Conspiracy is often charged in addition to other crimes such as fraud, drug dealing, gang-related activity and other state and federal crimes. A charge of conspiracy can often make penalties much more severe.
Recently, in the news, 12 suspected Norteño gang members were charged in four murders, while dozens of other suspects were also charged with robbery, drug possession and gang conspiracy. The conspiracy charges included wire-tapping. It would have been in the best interest of those suspects to have secured experienced legal counsel in that scenario, familiar with conspiracy and wire-tapping. It is likely that some of the suspects could have been wrongfully accused of these crimes.

If you are convicted of conspiracy, you may be punished for the behavior and actions of other individuals. You could face severe fines and a prison sentence.

An effective criminal defense attorney should inform you that if a person charged with conspiracy actually conspires to commit an illegal act but later withdraws from that conspiracy before anyone has committed an overt act, then the person who withdrew is not guilty of conspiracy. This is a critical component to understand and implement since many people accused of conspiracy withdraw from the plan and are therefore not guilty.